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Monday, December 17, 2018

Pretty sure I have told you this before, but Turf is one of the best things going for a dinner party with friends. You can have up to 10 people (it’s a squeeze, but we managed) and the chefs will develop a menu for you. You can BYOB and the whole menu is $85 per person. They don’t skimp either.

And the food…well it was amazing. First, we had a crostini with Petite Basque cheese, topped with cooked tomatoes and olives and drizzled with pistachio and herb pesto. This was one of my favorites—I mean add olives to stuff and you know I am going to like it. But I really appreciated the combo of saltiness, acid and rich creamy cheese. And I got to eat pistachios, which is something I avoid at home because my son is allergic.

The next course was family style poutine. It’s funny, poutine is our comfort food at home---the thing my kids will make when they’re on their own. It’s simple, and this was a good one. Crispy, thin fries tossed in a salty, beefy gravy and topped with lots of fresh cheese curds. It was kind of addictive and while it seemed like a ton of food (they brought out two big bowls for the 10 of us), we managed to eat it all. My only complaint here is that I wish the fries and/or the gravy were a little bit hotter.

Next, they brought us a beautiful bright salad with all kind of things in it-there were chickpeas, hearts of palm, greens, tomatoes, avocado, pickled red onions, roasted cauliflower, and boiled egg. And the real treat of the salad were the bites of smoked trout scattered throughout. The whole thing was topped with an herb vinaigrette. This was pretty much like my perfect salad. All my favorite things.

The main entrée was a wagyu filet of beef that was topped with this insanely rich oyster mushroom ragout. There was a mustard buerre blanc underneath it. This was a very popular dish at the table. It was perfectly cooked (medium rare) and the mushrooms added a nice nutty flavor. There was a hint of truffle oil as well. I will admit, I was getting pretty full though and took some of mine home. Delicious though.

But just when I thought there was no way I could eat another bite, they brought out dessert. This sounded kind of simple, and I guess it sort of was, but it was so, so good. It was hot chocolate cake with marshmallow cream and caramel and ice cream. Seriously, I don’t’ know what made this cake taste so good, but I asked them for an extra piece to take home to my kids because I knew how much they would love it. I think that marshmallow throughout really made it have that hot chocolate flavor. So, so good.

All in all, this is such a good deal and a fun way to have a dinner party with friends where you don’t have to clean up. You have the place to yourself and can drink what you want. They’ll even let you pick the music if you want. And the people there are all so nice. It’s an intimate setting and you can talk to the chefs and ask questions if you want. They will also make accommodations for dietary restrictions if you let them know. I highly recommend it! And for what you get, it’s a great deal.

P.S. They have some of the best sandwiches for lunch too. Just check the schedule on social media first, because they aren’t always open if they are catering.

Monday, December 10, 2018

So I know a lot of you all travel, and if you travel from Indy, you’re bound to go through Atlanta at some point. And if you do, do yourself a favor and go eat at One Flew South. It’s not just good for airport food, it’s just good. If it existed in Indy, I would eat there all the time. I am now considering planning long layovers in Atlanta when I travel. Seriously,

Anyhow, there was a bunch of us, and I got to try a bunch of things. One of my favorite things were the poke tacos ($16). I am sure this comes as no surprise to those of you who regularly read my blog. But these things were so good and seasoned just right. There was lots of fresh avocado, daikon sprouts, a slightly spicy salsa and sea salt. So, so good. We ended up ordering about 4 orders for the table (there are three per order) because they were so popular. We also ordered some Cajun shrimp toast, which was interesting. The sauce was a spicy creole type sauce, but it also had a slightly Asian flair with sesame on it. The shrimp were pretty spectacular because they were cooked so perfectly. The bread had onion and bacon in it.

We had a sushi roll to share as well, and it was really, really good as well. It was the kamikaze roll ($16), which had tuna, salmon, and nigiri inside, and was served on top of a spicy mayo and wrapped in this interesting white soy paper. Simple, but just enough of a spicy sauce to make it shine.

I ordered the salmon hot pot ($24) for my main dish which had this really tasty and sticky unagi fried rice that was topped with some tofu, shitake mushrooms, some greens, and a miso broth. Oh yeah, and that beautiful hunk of seared salmon. Delicious. The flavors were deep and so good.

My daughter had the duck confit croquettes ($14). These were little balls of grits and peas with duck confit and topped with citrus, fennel slaw and yuzu vinaigrette. She liked them ok but didn’t think they were as good as everything else. She would pass on this next time.

My son had the specialty burger, the “Seoul Burger ($18),” which had bacon, kimchi, white American cheese and a special sauce. He had the sauce on the side. It came with fries and it was also delicious. Juicy burger, Brioche bun and nice crispy fries. But with an Asian flair. Totally worth getting.

We even had this wonderful yuzu tart for dessert, which hit the spot after a lot of rich and salty food. And having a nice dinner after a leg of traveling is a welcome break. Seriously, if you find yourself in Atlanta at the airport with some time to kill, check it out.

Monday, December 3, 2018

Hubby and I went to Liter House the other night. We had been before, but there’s been some chef shake ups, so I wanted to wait to write about it until the new chef had been in charge for bit. The current chef is Adam Ditter, formerly of Longbranch and the Vanguard. You can see some of his Longbranch/Asian influences on some of the specials, such as the one I ordered, but overall the menu maintains its German theme.

We started with the potato latkes topped with raclette cheese and sauerkraut ($10). This was a generous serving and so, so good. There were a couple of large crispy potato pancakes topped with the melted creamy cheese and then some caramelized sauerkraut and onions. This was such a good combo with the crispy edges of the potatoes, the creamy richness of the cheese and the acid from the sauerkraut. I would totally get this again. They also do a version with mortadella instead of the cheese, but I don’t know how you would pass up the cheese.

Hubby ordered the pork schnitzel ($18). This was an intensely tender piece of fried pork tenderloin topped with a creamy mushroom sauce and homemade spaetzle. Wow, this was such a great dish. The spaetzle was tender and held up really well to that mushroom sauce. It was a great combo. Everything was cooked just right, and I was impressed. Luckily hubby was up for sharing, because I ate a fair amount of his.

I ordered one of the specials of the night, which was the mapo tofu ($14) Let’s face it. I will order mapo tofu just about any time I see it on a menu. German restaurant? No exception. So it’s hunks of tofu on rice with a sauce that had black beans, garlic and a hot Chinese sauce that was so hot, it was almost too much for me. I have had the chef’s version of this dish at his other restaurants, but I feel like this was the hottest one yet! Definitely a lasting residue of spiciness with this one. I love this dish and general, and this one was well done, but it was to the point heat-wise that I would likely not order it again here because it detracted from the taste of everything else (luckily that creamy sauce on the schnitzel helped). If you really like super spicy though, I would go for it. Also, they might want to warn people about the heat level.

We had some time to kill before we picked up our daughter, so decided to have a dessert as well. We had the chocolate cheesecake with pretzel crust and blueberry beer compote ($8). Wow, another great combination of flavors with the sweet cheesecake, the salty pretzel crumbs, and the tart compote. Get a little but in every bite and it was perfect.I appreciated how all the food overall was so well balanced.

Hubby was also happy to see more German style beers and appreciated the price points as well. He had the Dunkel for $6 and was pleased. Our service was very good, and the crowd was pleasant. It was busy but not ridiculously loud. I also really appreciated the fact that it was the proper (warm) temperature in there for a winter night. I hate freezing in restaurants and I always seem to whether it is summer or winter. My only complaint about the atmosphere is that we were seated at a high-top table in the bar and the either the stools are too short for the table or the table is too tall for the stools. I felt like I needed a booster seat. As it was, I sat on my foot all night to prop me up a bit.

I have also heard that they are working on opening a Texas-style smokehouse in the back and I look forward to trying that when it opens as well.

Overall though, I was very impressed and look forward to trying more things on the menu. What have been your favorite things?

Monday, November 26, 2018

Recently I met a friend for lunch at Ukiyo. It has been quite a while since I was there, and the cold days make ramen sound good. I was happy when we got there to see they have sort of condensed the lunch and dinner menu into one and include ramen for both. I love the new small plates format as well. Of course, they still have the full sushi menu, but the rest is focused on shareable plates.

At lunch I had a half portion of the pork shoyu ramen ($9) and my friend the half order of chicken ramen ($9). They also have a vegetarian option, and I love that they offer the half portions, because I think they are plenty big. Plus, then you don’t feel like you’re over ordering if you want to try something else, which we did. The ramen is good—it is not spicy at all but has a nice depth of flavor in the broth. They were both on the mild side, but all the ingredients were tasty—I liked the fact that the slices of pork in mine weren’t fatty and were very tender. The only bad part of the ramen was in my friend’s chicken version. The pieces of chicken suffered from being a little gristly.

We also had the bacon and cheese okonomiyaki ($10), which was the standout. So glad I ordered this, and the feeling was held by my friend as well. So okonomiyaki are Japanese pancakes made with shredded scallions and cabbage, and I believe some mountain yam was in there. Plus, of course, the bacon and cheese. There was a sauce drizzled on top and bonito flakes. This was the reason that I went back less than a week later with my daughter. That pancake was so tasty. Lots of flavors in there, lots of umami as they say. Seriously, next time you go, give it a try. It is rich though, so you will want to share it.

So at dinner, we ordered it again, and enjoyed it just as much except that it came at the very end of our meal and we had overordered and were getting pretty full. The first thing that came out was their version of tuna tartare called maguro zuke ($16). It is large cubes of tuna with chunks of nagaimo, which is a type of Japanese yam. These chunks are raw and it has a really interesting light and crunchy texture that is a cool contrast to the tuna. Not going to lie though, I would rather have more of the tuna and a little less of the yam. There were also some Chrysanthemum greens. It had a light shoyu sauce, that was maybe just a little light for my taste. I appreciate the freshness of the fish etc., but I would have loved a little more of the salty flavor of the sauce.

We also had a hot chicken bun to share ($3), which was also quite delicious. I love a good Japanese bun, and this was a good one. The bun itself was really tender and I appreciated that it wasn’t as fat as some I have had, so it had a good ratio of bun to fried chicken. The crispy coating on the fried chicken was so crisp it just shattered when you bit into it. It was coated in a kind of hot honey sauce that didn’t feel ridiculously hot at first but built up in your mouth. Add some pickles, and you have a great little bite.

We also shared the pork katsu donburi ($14), which I also really enjoyed. The pork was breaded and fried crisp, egg, and these melty sweet soy onions. It was all served on top of steamed rice. A really nice dish with crunchy bits and lots of smooth silky texture as well. It had a good, slightly sweet flavor, but also with the hit of soy. We both really enjoyed this.

We also felt like we should order a sushi roll as well, since well, it’s a sushi place right? My daughter picked the crab, avocado and salmon roll ($17). The ingredients are some of the freshest around, and I love the actual crab in there—but I guess maybe I am realizing that I like some of the gooey sauces on my sushi. This one had a very light sauce on top, but honestly, it was so light, it isn’t particularly memorable to me. I get letting the fish shine, but I like a little burst of flavor too I guess. Bottom line, I think there’s a lot more flavor in the small plates, and I would probably just stick with that part of the menu on future visits. It is certainly the part of the menu that lures me back in.

All in all, it’s a great addition and I like that we have a lunch and dinner place with such an interesting Japanese menu. I like that you are no longer limited to only ramen for lunch and that you can get ramen at dinner and have more options than just sushi as well. It’s funny, because my first review I thought the sushi was the star compared to the other dishes we had, but now I think my opinion has flip flopped.

I am excited to see how the menu keeps evolving and changing with the seasons. I look forward to checking it out again soon. Let me know your menu favorites.

Monday, November 19, 2018

I should have written this post ages ago, but we kept going back before concerts, and before I knew it I had been three times and had written about it never. So I will do my best to keep it brief, but we went to several concerts this summer at Ruoff/Kilpsch/Deer Creek and I was looking for somewhere to grab dinner beforehand that would take a reservation and was not a chain. Difficult in this neck of the woods. And the food at Ruoff? Well it’s appalling. Hey, Guy Fieri is not my thing but at least those burgers they had there a few years back were edible.

Anyhow, I stumbled on Foxgardin, which is actually a good option location-wise. It in a location that you can stay off of 37/69 too much and avoid that awful traffic (seriously, you northsiders, I don’t know how you do it). And it’s a quick 5-10 minutes into Ruoff after. And they give concert-goers a discount off the bill.

We went with the kids a few times and alone once and have tried a lot of things. Highlights were the tomato and burrata salad they had at the end of the summer which featured nice, ripe Heirlooms. The burger ($12) was also a highlight, and we didn’t discover it until the last visit. It is juicy and cooked to order and has a nice Brioche bun and just the right amount of cheese. The burger was more of a fat-style burger, but not so big that it was ridiculous. The buffalo wings ($9.50) were also solid. A nice amount of kick. They weren’t mind blowing, but tasted good with the burger and salad (hubby and I split the three). The little fried mashed potato balls were tasty as well. They became slowly addictive as you ate them.

Other things that were good, but maybe not quite as good as the burger and salad were the fish and chips—nice batter, but fairly basic, fish and chips. Also, they push their steaks and always have these special prime options. My son has had a regular filet ($27) there and enjoyed it. I don’t think he thought there was really anything that made it mind-blowing, but it was a good, solid steak. Same goes with the fish tacos ($12)—not bad, but not something I would rush to order again.

Several times we have also gotten the pretzel bread with beer cheese and pimento cheese ($11). This is also a family favorite, although I prefer the pimento cheese to the beer cheese (which I think is just a bowl of the beer cheese soup that is also on the menu). The bread is spot on though.

The first couple of time we also had this savory pancake that had some heat and sweetness (I am thinking hot honey?) but it was weird because it looked really ugly the first time, but tasted really good, and looked really pretty the second time and wasn’t as good. So I am not sure which version was the intended version, but it was an interesting dish.

Pancake 1

Pancake 2

My least favorite things I have had was the buffalo chicken pasta ($9) and the crab cake. The pasta was really big, and for a buffalo chicken flavored dish, it was kind of bland. The carb cake had that all filling, no crab vibe going. We have also had spotty service here. Sometimes it’s great, and on about half our visits, our service was pretty slow.

Overall, you can see it is kind of a mixed bag here, but there are golden nuggets scattered throughout the menu. And I appreciate that they change the menu up regularly and also always have specials. Someone in the kitchen is using some creativity and keeping the menu new and different.And I appreciate the discount before a concert. It’s probably not a place I would seek out just for a regular dinner out, but it is definitely a place we will go again before a concert.

This is also a place that I would really like to hear back from you guys on though for possible dishes in the future—what have been your favorite things?

Monday, November 12, 2018

Nesso is the newest Cunningham Restaurant group project in the old Cerulean spot at the Alexander Hotel. It’s pretty new, and I usually try and wait a bit, but the perfect opportunity arose to check it out, so we did. Plus, since we are always on a quest for interesting Italian food, it was quite appealing.

First of all, I was impressed by the effort put into remodeling the interior. I always thought the old Cerulean interior was interesting and modern, but they have certainly improved it in my mind. There’s darker wood, and a much warmer feeling. It still feels very modern though. Our server was attentive, and it was one of the circumstances where it felt like the company had put some effort into staff training. Our server was also knowledgeable about the menu and offered suggestions.

We started with the bread plate ($5) and the bruschetta ($10) for appetizers. They have a nice bread plate with several fresh bread options, including focaccia and sliced Italian bread. They serve the bread with roasted garlic olive oil with a touch of balsamic, as well as butter. The bread plate was well done. We all really liked the bruschetta as well, which included several toppings such as white beans with cheese, wild mushrooms, mustard greens and tomato. It was all on the same plate, but sort of separated by flavors, and every one was good. I enjoyed mixing some of the richer flavors with some of the more acidic flavors from the tomatoes. It was a crowd favorite at the table. We also ordered the grilled artichokes, because they are also a family favorite. They are very good as well and have nice crispy grilled edges. They were heavily seasoned with garlic and herbs and were served alongside a salad of citrus, fennel and red onions with hazelnuts. I enjoyed the freshness of the salad, but I am not sure I loved it with the artichokes. The artichokes were nicely cooked though so that they were tender inside with the charred exterior.

I love love that they have true first course sized pastas. So you can truly make it a first course, or you can have a very light dinner. I love pasta that is interesting, but so often Indy restaurants give you so much of it that it looks unappealing the minute it is set down in front of me because it is just way, way too huge. Our server warned us that they were two-ounce portions, and they are also priced appropriately in my opinion for the quality you get. Hubby and my son had the bigoli ($12), which was outstanding. It is a large spaghetti-like pasta, but thicker and was in a black pepper, egg, parmesan and guanciale sauce. A small amount went a long way, but it was rich and delicious. And a small amount was all you needed. My daughter had the gnocchi ($16) which was also very good. She questioned it a bit because it included pears in the toppings but ended up really liking the combo that also included fried sage, hazelnuts, grana Padano cheese, goat cheese fondue and chicken-focaccia meatballs. The gnocchi were small and somewhat dense but had a nice crisp exterior from being pan-fried. An interesting combos of flavors for sure. For my main dish, I ordered the risotto with a rich broth, lots of parmesan, butter and some foie gras, which was all topped with sliced truffles ($15). Again, I loved the fact that I could order something this rich and decadent, and not regret it because of a massive portion. It was small and just the right amount. Ok, I might have seared the foie a bit and maybe put in a little more, but it was a really tasty combination.

The main dishes at the table were the branzino ($34) (picture shows a half portion that my kids split) and the veal ($28). Both were excellent, and completely different from each other. The fish was light, and the skin was very crisp and a bit salty, which both kids devoured. The sauce was an herb basil aioli and had potatoes, fennel, and lemon. There was also a touch of chili, giving it a hint of spiciness. All the flavors combined together for an extremely well-balanced dish. The veal was on the opposite extreme, extremely rich and extremely hearty. The veal was pan fried and topped with walnuts and gorgonzola cheese, as well as capers and parsley salad. I appreciated the briny kick from these, but hubby thought there was almost a little too much going on for him, and he didn’t think the dish needed all the cheese AND the capers. I thought it was pretty darn tasty though.

We didn’t get any dessert, but I look forward to trying these one of these days, particularly knowing Hattie McDaniels is running the pastry kitchen. All in all, it was one of the better dinner experiences we have had in Indy lately and I hope they continue to grow and succeed. So far, so good as far as I am concerned.

Monday, November 5, 2018

My son was playing in a tennis tournament in Zionsville, and naturally the first thing I thought was, where could we eat after? I don’t make the trek out to Zionsville that often, so I wanted to make the most of it. We settled on Auberge, which was a place I have been wanting to go for a while. It’s French, with a really classic (but modern) French menu. It was easy to sell my son on it with two words: “steak frites.”

It’s a cute little place set on Main Street in an old house. They have a patio that probably doubles the size of the restaurant, but we sat inside because my son was sort of overheated from all that tennis. It is a cute interior with a lot of wood. Our server was very friendly, but sadly got a little overwhelmed as the meal progressed.

First, they bring you these little baby bread loaves baked into a little flower pot. The bread was really soft, and it was warm, and they gave you nice soft butter with it. These were very good. Hubby was thrilled they had escargot a la Bourguignonne ($12) as well. If he seems escargot, he nearly always as to order it. They little snails were in a rich herby garlic butter and topped with little balls of puff pastry. They were very French, and very good. Done just right. We also ordered the tuna tartare ($16), which was very good quality hunks of raw tuna. It was mildly seasoned with lemon and olive oil and served over a little salad of diced veggies and topped with a quail egg and saffron aioli. I sort of wished for a bit more of the aioli, or the lemon or something, but it was still very good as the fish itself was great, and it was at least properly salted.

Hubby loved his duck breast ($28), which was served medium rare, and alongside Dauphinoise potatoes and braised endive with a cherry reduction alongside. A slightly sweet, slightly tangy accompaniment is always good with duck. The potatoes were rich and creamy, and he was very, very happy. My son had the steak frites ($25), his go to at a French place, and was happy as well. The steak was cooked as he wanted it and the lightly truffle flavored fries were nice and crisp. I loved the garlic and tarragon aioli they served with the fries. They do a very nice job with the seasonings.

I was really torn about what to order, and I knew I would get some of the boys’ food, so I decided to try the quiche ($12). It had gruyere and broccoli and a nice rich crust (you get a whole baby quiche, not just a slice). I really enjoyed the well-dressed greens served alongside as well. I like a little tangy bite to go with a rich cheesy thing like quiche, and this one was great. The quiche itself was probably not something I would order again, but I did enjoy it. I have my eye on the croque Madame ($13), which is always one of my favorite things, but I didn’t try this time.

Overall, I am excited to see a cute place with a classic truly French menu. I think the kitchen is doing a good job making great flavor combos and using high quality ingredients. The downside of this place was definitely the service. We actually wanted to try dessert (profiteroles!), but it was taking so long to get our server’s attention throughout the night, we just gave up. I don’t know if it was because the patio was so busy or what, but the service wasn’t good. I would certainly try again one of these days, because the food was worth it. Hopefully, it was just an off night. Who else has been there? Tell me what you think? I am surprised I don’t hear about this place more…

Monday, October 29, 2018

Hubby and finally got back to Tinker Street after the big coup a few months ago—the ownership has changed, and the menu style has been mixed up a bit too. The chef is the same, but he is now part owner, and seems to be varying a bit from the way the menu was organized in the past.

It was a nice night to sit on the patio—which is one of the best parts about Tinker in my mind. We started with an order of the tots with cheese sauce and caviar ($19). They were large homemade tater tots sitting in cheese fondue and topped with caviar. I liked this dish and was happy just with the tots and the cheese sauce. Hubby thought the amount of caviar was a little weak considering the price of the dish. Overall, I thought it was enjoyable and I appreciate a restaurant making its own tots!

We also had the heirloom tomato salad ($15) with Moon Rabbit cheddar, fried pickles and shaved fennel. It was served on a creamy ranch type sauce. I enjoyed this dish but would change it up a little. It was hard to get the sauce on the tomatoes because they are so slippery, you can’t really get the dressing on them. To remedy this, I would drizzle the dressing on top for taste, even if it wouldn’t look as pretty. I would love a couple more of the fried pickles too—they were truly delicious. Overall it was a well-seasoned and tasty dish with nice ripe tomatoes, I just wish it had been easier to get the dressing on my bites.

We had decided to make our entire dinner out of appetizers, so for our next course, we had the foie gras special and the mushroom steamed buns ($12). The foie gras was the best thing on the table all night. It had been a long time since hubby and I had had any (goose liver is not exactly the health choice), but it was worth the splurge. There was a nice rich, buttery piece of foie with plums, and slices of brioche French toast. Wow, was this good. If they have it as a special, I highly recommend.

We also had the mushroom buns and while I liked the flavor of the ginger and bulgogi sauce, these were really big and really filling. The bun part was bigger than many I have had. The insides were tasty, but I could really only eat one of these. It would be a good thing to split between four people to get the taste, but not get overfull. The pickled kohlrabi gave a nice tanginess and crunch to the dish.

We decided to try a dessert too, since we were eating smaller plates for dinner. We had the goat cheese cake with chevre, graham cracker and apricot. This one was pretty disappointing. Our server described a tangy cheesecake type of dish, but this was more like a graham cracker crust filled with apricot jam and served with a topping of a sponge cake that apparently was made with goat cheese, but you didn’t really get the tangy flavor from it…it was kind of bland in my opinion. I have never been disappointed with the s’mores pot de crème here and next time I think I would go back to that. It was a pretty dish, but lacking in flavor. And I love apricot. They do have a lovely dessert wine list by the glass, which I am happy to see popping up more and more around town.

All in all, we had an enjoyable meal with some ups and downs, but I would say Tinker is still a nice place to remember on date night (no kids allowed) when you want something pretty and chef-crafted. Service was good, and so was the wine selection.

Monday, October 22, 2018

The other day I found myself downtown with some friends at lunch time and we decided to try Burger Study. It’s the burger place from the St Elmo people. There was a group of us, so we got to try several things, which always makes me happy.

We started with an order of the beer cheese tots ($9). This was tater tots topped with beer cheese, chives, bacon and bits of pretzels. The beer cheese was a somewhat mild flavor, but I really enjoyed these. I have a weakness for tots, and then the salty bacon and bits of pretzel added texture and were really tasty. They seemed to be liked by everyone at the table. We also got a Brussels sprouts salad ($12). This was also a solid favorite. It was shaved Brussels sprouts, pumpkin seeds, onion jam, cilantro vinaigrette and a big hunk of burrata cheese. This was really good. The sprouts were really well dressed (nice and tangy dressing) and were good even without the cheese. But the cheese of course, was great as well. I would order both of these again.

I ordered the “double major” burger ($13), which is described as a burger with two thin patties topped with American cheese, “Study sauce,” dill pickles and shredded lettuce. I changed it to a single burger patty because I was hoping to find a good thin smash burger. The other burgers on the menu are thicker patties. The burger was decent but wasn’t truly the super thin burger I was hoping for. And I think you really needed the extra patty to stand up to the bun. The study sauce was sort of like a thousand island dressing. Everything on the burger was good, but like I said, the proportions were a bit off, but that was really kind of my fault.

A couple of people at the table ordered the “Semester at Sea” burger ($18). This was a tuna patty topped with ponzu mayo, Napa slaw, wonton crisps, and tomato. The tuna was really high quality and the burger was better than my beef burger. I liked the flavor of the ponzu mayo and the crunch from the wonton crisps. Several people ordered shakes as well and really enjoyed them, even though they take a while to get.

We tried several sides as well from the mac and cheese, to fries, to zucchini straws. I can’t say any really impressed me, but they were fine. I did like the black pepper mayo that came with the zucchini and I ordered a side of it to go with my fries.

The service was pretty off—things were forgotten, and several things took a long time (including the bill) but it’s a decent lunch option when you have a large group with varying tastes. I would go with a different burger next time—a friend had the southern classic ($14) with pimento cheese and bacon, and it looked tasty. Or maybe the double major with both patties. Based on the tuna burger though, I bet the tuna poke is tasty too.

All in all, the appetizers we ordered were my favorite part, and according to everyone else, so were the milkshakes. I would like to try it again though. It’s a nice space in the middle of an area of downtown with a lot of chains, which makes it a nice alternative. What have you guys tried there?

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